Khamenei Warns against Attempts to 'Uproot' Ruling Regime in Iran

A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
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Khamenei Warns against Attempts to 'Uproot' Ruling Regime in Iran

A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Friday that no one should dare think they can uproot the ruling regime, in his toughest warning to protesters since Mahsa Amini's death in police custody ignited nationwide unrest now in its fourth week.

Demonstrations by people from all walks of life, after the Iranian Kurdish woman's death following her arrest for "inappropriate attire", have evolved into widespread calls for the downfall of Khamenei.

The protests mark one of the boldest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 revolution, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling the system.

Khamenei compared the republic to an unshakeable tree. "That seedling is a mighty tree now and no one should dare think they can uproot it," he said in remarks shown on state TV.

Some of the deadliest unrest has been in areas home to ethnic minorities with long-standing grievances against the state, including Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast.

Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown, including teenage girls.

Amnesty International said at least 23 children have died.

Police deployed heavily on Friday in the city of Dezful, a witness said, after activists called for protests in the predominantly ethnic Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border.

There was heavy deployment too of police and the Basij - a volunteer militia leading the crackdown - in the main squares of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province at the border with Pakistan in the southeast, two witnesses said.

Iran has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, including armed separatists and Western powers, accusing them of conspiring against the country and denying security forces have killed protesters. State TV reported at least 26 members of the security forces have been killed.

Deaths mount

Zahedan was the scene of one of the deadliest days yet on Sept. 30 when Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown after prayers.

The authorities said Baluchi militants attacked a police station that day, triggering a shootout. The Revolutionary Guards said five members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia were killed.

Iran, with a population of 87 million, is home to seven ethnic minorities alongside majority Persians. Rights groups say minorities, including Kurds and Arabs, have long faced discrimination. Iran denies this.

A Revolutionary Guards major and a Basij militiaman were shot dead by "rioters" early on Friday in southern Fars province, state TV reported. A news agency said the two were shot after confronting "two rioters" writing graffiti.

Social media users reacted angrily to a video apparently showing a member of the riot police molesting a female protester in Tehran. Reuters could not verify the footage.

Ensiyeh Khazali, vice president for women’s affairs, called for a probe, state media said. Police said they would deal with anyone found accountable of a violation.

In the southwestern oil city of Abadan, some protesters were chanting "Death to the dictator" amid heavy presence of Basij and riot police on Friday, another witness said.

Security forces have also pressed their crackdown this week in Kurdish regions where the Revolutionary Guards have a track record of putting down dissent.

Iran's Kurds are part of an ethnic minority spread between several regional states whose autonomy aspirations have also led to conflicts with authorities in Iraq, Syria and Türkiye.

While many officials have struck an uncompromising tone, a top adviser to Khamenei was cited this week as questioning whether police should be enforcing headscarf-wearing - rare criticism of state efforts to impose the hijab.

Amini's death and the crackdown have drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western powers, prompting new sanctions on Iranian officials and adding to tensions at a time when talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are at a standstill.



France Holds Rare Defense Cabinet Meeting over Iran as Tensions with US Mount

Military personnel stand guard at a nuclear facility in the Zardanjan area of Isfahan, Iran, April 19, 2024, in this screengrab taken from video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
Military personnel stand guard at a nuclear facility in the Zardanjan area of Isfahan, Iran, April 19, 2024, in this screengrab taken from video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
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France Holds Rare Defense Cabinet Meeting over Iran as Tensions with US Mount

Military personnel stand guard at a nuclear facility in the Zardanjan area of Isfahan, Iran, April 19, 2024, in this screengrab taken from video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
Military personnel stand guard at a nuclear facility in the Zardanjan area of Isfahan, Iran, April 19, 2024, in this screengrab taken from video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

French President Emmanuel Macron was convening key ministers and experts on Wednesday to discuss Iran, including its nuclear program, amid growing tensions between Tehran and US President Donald Trump, three diplomatic sources said, Reuters reported.

Such a cabinet meeting dedicated to a specific subject is rare and highlights mounting concern among Washington's European allies that the United States and Israel could launch airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities unless there is a quick negotiated deal on its nuclear program.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reinforced US military capability in the Middle East with more warplanes, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, amid a US bombing campaign against the Houthis who control much of Yemen and are supported by Iran.

A senior European official said European strategists were asking themselves whether the campaign could be a precursor to a US strike on Iran in the coming months.

Trump, who has urged Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to engage immediately in negotiations, threatened Iran on Sunday with bombing and secondary tariffs if it did not come to an agreement over its nuclear program, which Western countries say amounts to weapons development.

The foreign minister of Iran's direct adversary Israel will be in Paris on Thursday. Diplomatic sources said ministers from France, Britain and Germany were hoping to discuss the Iran dossier with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when they convene in Brussels for a NATO ministerial meeting this week.

Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.

Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment, producing stocks at a high level of fissile purity, well above what Western powers say is justifiable for a civilian energy program and close to that required for nuclear warheads. Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon.

France, Britain and Germany have sought in recent months to raise pressure on Iran in a bid to coax it back into discussions over its nuclear program.

They have held several rounds of talks with Iran including at technical level last week, to try to lay the groundwork for some form of agreement.

But the Trump administration has focused initially on a campaign of "maximum pressure", and the Europeans have found coordination complicated, diplomats say.

The European powers had hoped to convince Iran to begin negotiating new restrictions on its nuclear activities with a view to having a deal by August at the latest.

That would give enough time to set new limits for Iran's program and lift sanctions before the 2015 accord expires in October 2025.